The Litchfield Budget Committee has sent to the voters on the March 10th ballot for the town an appropriation of $5,232,478 representing a 4.5% increase over the 2014 default budget approved by the voters. Notable areas of increase are spending of $119,376 for the voter approved Police Union contract as well as the purchase of two, new Police cruisers replacing worn out, high mileage vehicles. This will move the Town back to the successful system of purchasing cruisers in place several years ago. Additional appropriations were also in the area of the Information Technology budget by $69,325 providing for the upkeep and maintenance of the town’s computer systems, $25,391 for employee benefits (health insurance, Social Security, etc.) and an increase of $15,696 for the Highway Department for maintenance and additional salt purchases. The Budget Committee also took decreases in the Selectmen’s draft budget for the purchase of gasoline, propane, oil, welfare and consulting services. The Budget Committee after much deliberation and discussion approved the 2015 budget unanimously.

The Board of Selectmen considers the Budget Committee’s budget as presented to the voters to be a reasonable basis for the running of our town. It is our belief that it will allow the Selectmen the flexibility in addressing the expenses that we expect to encounter in 2015 while ensuring that the taxes to our citizens are maintained a low as possible. We support the Budget Committee’s budget and have also unanimously recommended their budget for adoption of the voters. We are encouraging all voters to follow both the Budget Committee and the Board of Selectmen and approve the budget warrant at the March election.